What’s Happening

Shelley, 24, from Blackpool, Lancashire, was a nursery nurse before she entered a start-up scheme in 2013 at Fleetwood Market to launch her ‘shabby chic’ gifts and home furnishings business, Daisy Daze. Growing increasingly frustrated with her work in the nursery, Shelley had been considering self-employment as a way of making a living out of her

Anna Harman For the last nine years Anna Harman has worked tirelessly to turn around the lives of 16 to 25-year-olds who are not in employment or education – the young NEETs who seem to have fallen through the system. Employed by the Source Skills Academy at Meadowhall, Sheffield, Anna is a tutor in the schools

Natalie Smith went from Saturday Girl in a clothes shop to manager of a prestigious jeweller’s. Her successful career in retail is down to the work-based learning qualifications she studied for along the way. “I know I would not have got to managerial level without the training I received while studying for NVQs,” says Natalie,

When Kieron Ellis landed a part-time job in Topman’s shoe department at 16, he was in his element. “It put money in my pocket and I got a staff discount, which meant I could buy more clothes. That’s all I wanted,” he remembers. Within a matter of months, though, he realised he had hit upon

April Bell, 21, from Hillsborough, started an apprenticeship with Monica F Hewitt Florists at the age of 16 studying towards a Retail Level 2 apprenticeship. She had previously worked for a short time with the business through a work experience placement when she was just 14. She thrived in the floristry environment and her keen

We visited Touchwood, Solihull to hear what students from Arden School had to say about their experiences of working at the centre and on the Touchwood Challenge as part of the centre’s 15th anniversary!

Retail Matters Week

We know that careers in retail can be both fulfilling and rewarding. Retail Matters Week celebrates people working in retail places, highlighting the positive actions the industry is implementing to develop and progress careers beyond the shop floor.